Monthly Archives: July 2012

The Dark Knight Rises : A clinical end befitting its predecessors

21 July, 2012   Movies   No comments

“My heart goes out to all the lost souls and the affected families of the Denver theater shooting incident. The country needs to review their laws relating to arms”.

20th July’12 : Last night The Dark Knight Rises (TDKR) released worldwide after a long wait of 4 years since its widely accepted 2nd installment marking the final chapter of  Nolan’s Batman trilogy. It’s fair to say that the man has carved his niche through his past few releases as a terrific storyteller and a complete filmmaker as it is. But with TDKR given the pre release publicities and media hoopla, fans of the superhero and cinema alike are in a state of frenzy with this one. Although I was fortunate to be one of the first one’s to have watched TDK in a special screening before its actual release, there was no such luck with TDKR. But yeah looking back 1st day – 3rd show did fine.

The Central Characters

Q: How was it?
A: It’s a fitting end to the best superhero adaptation of all times. Each pivotal character of the story (which btw is a lot of them) were given enough room in the screenplay to groom and have a fitting ending and trust me its tougher than it sounds. It is a fast paced narrative with lots of things happening. But that doesn’t necessarily equate to a lot of action but more around character and story development.
 
Q. Is it the best of 3?
A: No it is not. Its a tough job, the rounding up act  and more so when its done on such a large production scale and story. But nowhere did it seem to give the impression the makers were in 2 minds. The writers were in sync with the story so far and every plot and its inherit mini sub plots were rooted to the nature and mood set with its predecessors. I didn’t expect it to top TDK and it didn’t. It set out to stay true to its theme of “chaos” and succeeded emphatically.
 
Q: But is it the biggest of them all?
A: Yes most definitely. More drama, more action, more body bags. Twists and turns? heck YES
 
Q: Is Bane better than the Joker?
A: No. Not on paper, nor on screen. The theme the Nolan brothers played with in TDK was fear and Joker played an integral part in promoting that aspect to the protagonist(s). Heath’s flawless rendition aside, Bane’s character which is by the way is fittingly enacted by an ever ascending Tom Hardy, is that of a catalyst rather than Batman’s chief nemesis. So in all fairness a comparison is not only futile but ill placed.
 

Bane vs Batman, is worth the entry price

Q: Best character of TDKR?
A: I had the soft spot for Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) all along and this installment only gave it a serious raise. Apart from that, Alfred (Michael Caine) had more words to mouth here and sadly Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) didn’t have tons of scope. The 3 new entries, Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), Officer Blake (Joseph Gordon Levitt) and Selina Kyle aka Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) all had substantial and meaty roles. All of them dug deep into their written lines adequately overseen by the master himself. Bane’s character with the handicap of having 2/3rds of his face covered at all times (barring one tiny weeny shot) had the most sought after role. Our cape crusader (Christian Bale) was consistent & convincing from start to finish. The fact that it’s deliciously written makes it a tough choice but for just the final chapter alone, I’d say JGL, Hathaway will share the spoils at the top amongst equals.
 

Christopher Nolan Hands and Footprints ceremony

Q: Flaws? (May contain spoilers)
A: Introduction of Batman was lukewarm. The punchlines didn’t hit home all the time. No crescendo or big finish in thrills. A few weak scenes considering the expectations.
 
Q: Positives ? (May contain spoilers)
A: A 2:45 mins runtime feels like 30 mins. Grandest action movie with a true story and believable sequences minus the usage of mindless CGIs. A fascinating   combat dual between Bane & Batman. Fantastic acting. Tantalizing background score. Best Catwoman rendition to date. Plenty of surprise twists and turns. Best end to a trilogy after Return of the King.

Final word? Go and bloody watch it. There is absolutely no excuse for not. The best action movie of the year, hands down. But please don’t expect any oscar noms, barring the slight possibility of Hans Zimmer squeezing through. But I think the Academy is removing original music category, or was it original song? Oh ok may be a slight nod for best sound editing then. Yes almost as good as Inception but no James Newton Howard here.

Final score: 4 /5

Some incredible trivia about The Dark Knight Rises can be found here

Here is a look at behind the scenes & interviews. Interesting watch :

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The last romantic hero… Rajesh Khanna dies

18 July, 2012   Movies   No comments

Much like most my generation, I only discovered Rajesh Khanna when he was in the twilight of his career in the late 80′s. It is his earlier hits which were aired on the telly, in Doordarshan while I was still in my knickers that got me hooked to this face. I didnt know much about cinema let alone Rajesh Khanna before all of that. But from what I’ve been told by my parents; I used to have this inexplicable fascination for this hero whenever he appeared on screen.

Apart from his charming romantic comedy and exceptionally believable acts that one could quickly associate with, all his box office hits had memorable tunes (to put it lightly), most of which were sung by Kishore Kumar. Another reason why I am sitting here today giving in to my urge to write again. I guess by the time I was 12, I had learnt most of Kishore Kumar songs by heart and its only fair to say Rajesh Khanna was the initiator.

With so much to Thank Him for, my words of appreciation in his praise would fall short for the contribution he has had in making me, what I am today. Not that I have attained anything of note yet. Its more about the matters that constitute the heart of my life : my love for movies & music !!!

Thank you Rajesh Khanna. God Bless your soul :)

Out of the thousands of songs, here is one particular tune that I found by chance and played it over and over and over again in my Philips walkman that was gifted to me on my 12th birthday. I wrote down the words and sang them along until I either got tired and slept into the night or the batteries ran out.

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